A Mad, Mad World

A Side of Mad Maggies @Speisekammer Tonight

madmags — Sat, 06 Mar 2010 21:02:46 +0000

Speisekammer Restaurant tonight 8:30PM.
GDub, Johny Blood, Adrian and Mags are playing.

Hope to see you there!

Watch This: “Polkaholics” the Movie

madmags — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 22:11:10 +0000

Connecting the Polka Dots

“Polkaholics”, the new documentary by filmmaker Wes Hranchak premieres this Friday at the Chicago International Movies and Music Festival. This loving tribute and celebration of polka tells the story of L’il Wally Jagiello and his coming together for a show with the Polkaholics at Zakopane Lounge in Chicago.

I have had the pleasure of sharing the stage with the Polkaholics. They dish up high octane rock polka. Leader Dandy Don Hedeker, besides being a shredding rock/polka guitarist and professor of biostatistics, is a super knowledgeable polka ~~fanatic~~ historian.

The Polkaholics most recent CD is “Wally!” – an original Polka-Rock Opera that tells the story of Li’l Wally’s Chicago polka glory and Florida sunset.

Read the cool Chicago TimeOut article.

I highly recommend catching this band in the act!

March Gigs Galore

madmags — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 19:43:15 +0000

March 6th – Saturday 8:30PM – Speisekammer Restaurant, Alameda.

A Side of Mad Maggies: GDub (guitars), Johny Blood (tuba), Adrian (alto sax, bass clarinet) and yours madly on accordion.

I’ve said it before The food is simply stellar at the Speisekammer Restaurant. And the selection of German beer is outstanding!

No Cover

Get Your Green On!

March 12 – Friday night at the Abbey Tavern on Geary in San Francisco. We play 9:30PM onward. FREE!

You want a taste of Irish this is the joint!

March 13 – Saturday afternoon at the 159th Annual St. Patrick’s Day Parade & Festival, San Francisco. FREE Festival in the Civic Center Plaza starts 11AM. We play 3-5PM.

We had a blast playing this last year. There was dancing in the streets — my favorite kind of happening.

March 19 – Friday 9:30 at the Vibe, San Rafael with Miracle Mule. We play from 10:30 onward – $10.

This is our first time at this cool dance venue in Marin and it’s gonna be fun.

March 28 – Sunday – Marin Civic Center Farmer’s Market Music in the morning amidst the fruits and veggies.

LISTEN to THIS: Stefan Hiss y Los Santos

madmags — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 03:58:40 +0000

GDub and I met Stefan Hiss and his band “Hiss” back in 1997 when we were in Germany visiting my sister who is a friend and fan. In fact, Stefan played her wedding 2 years later in 1999. They dished up a rousing night of music and I danced like a wild woman.

We’ve stayed in touch since and whenever we travel to my sister’s home outside of Stuttgart we usually get a visit in with Stefan to talk “music” and swap our current CDs.

Stefan’s latest band is “Los Santos” and he just mailed me their new CD entitled “Blue in Hawaii”. It’s a Western/ Tex-Mex celebration performed by stellar musicians. Instrumentation includes pedal steel, ukulele, dobro, banjo, and of course, accordion – Stefan Hiss is an amazing accordionist!

The fifteen tracks include, “My Wife Thinks Your Dead”, “Rag Mop” and “Deja Que Salga La Luna” plus three Hiss originals, “Blue Hawaii”, “Twisting in the Taiga” and “El Mezquite”.

One of my personal favs on the album is “Johnny Guitar” (a great tune written by Peggy Lee and Victor Young for the 1954 movie). They’ve capture just the right amount of “Out West” surrealism.

And their version of “Rag Mop” swings!

So LISTEN to THIS: “Blue in Hawaii” by Los Santos.
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Los Santos play “Rag Mop”:

Stefan Hiss playing one of his original tunes: “Tanz aus meinem Grab” (Dance on My Grave):

Johny Blood plays Herbst Theater 2nite

madmags — Mon, 01 Mar 2010 23:10:01 +0000

Mad Ms own tubist extraordinaire, Johny Blood joins his former band, Magnetic Fields tonight at the Herbst Theater in SF. Sold Out Show! (Though I did see some tix on craigslist …)

Love

madmags — Mon, 15 Feb 2010 03:01:26 +0000

Mad Ms play SF St. Pat’s Day Fest 3/13/10

madmags — Sat, 13 Feb 2010 01:44:18 +0000

Mark your calendars! Saturday March 13th.

We have the honour of playing the 159th San Francisco St. Patrick’s Day Parade and Festival. Festivities begin 11AM. We play 3-5PM on the Civic Center Plaza. This is a free outdoor concert!

Accordion Babes @ Down Home Music – Feb13

madmags — Fri, 12 Feb 2010 23:48:58 +0000

Celebrate Accordions and the Women who play them!

Hope to see you at this free in house concert at Down Home Music in El Cerrito this Saturday afternoon from 3PM till 6PM.

Babes perfoming are Renée de la Prade, Nada Lewis, Big Lou, Salane C. Schultz, Marla Fibish, Sabra Daly and me with GDub.

Speisekammer Show cancelled

madmags — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 21:12:20 +0000

Oh my! Speisekammer owner Cindy Johnson just realised that she had accidentally double booked the evening, Saturday 2/6/10.

She is offering us other dates. When we work out which ones work will let you know.

And we hope to see you there next time!

Couple of Mad Maggies"Lite" Shows coming up

madmags — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 00:43:04 +0000

February 6th – Saturday 8:30PM – Speisekammer Restaurant, Alameda.

GDub (guitars), Johny Blood (tuba), Rhian (whistles/clarinet), Adrian (alto sax) and yours madly on accordion.

Come early and eat — the food is simply stellar at the Speisekammer Restaurant. And their selection of German beer is outstanding!

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February 13th – Saturday 2:00PM – Down Home Music Store, El Cerrito — an Accordion Babes happening. GDub & I will be playing along with several of the 2010 Accordion Babes.

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